What do people think about Primus line rental?

Mr_Thrifty

All I want is a cheap line rental + unlimited calls package. So far, BT seem to be by far the best and only a tiny bit more expensive (like 50p a month). Plus, no huge 12 month commitment.

Any ideas for the cheapest all inclusive calls + line rental package? Not interested in broadband, by the way.

nickj_2

i have been a primus broadband and call user for the last 2-3 years , apart from one occaision it has been faultless in that time - i have just signed up for their line rental and all my questions via email have been answered in 2-3 days , their billing dates can be a bit eratic but i've had no other problems
i asked bt if thay had a deal that could match it but that was last week and i've yet to hear anything from them ,

skintdairymaid

Hi All

I moved my line rental to them last November and their communication is dreadful. When we moved house we were without a land line for three weeks and were paying for calls being made on our old number! Stupidly i then enquired with them about broadband. The modem arrived on Tuesday but they told me it would be wireless and it's not. I've just got off the phone from them again and they say it will be twenty + pounds for a wireless modem and if i cancel the broadband they are goin to charge me for the rest of my 18 month contract. Not sure what i do now but my advice would def be to STAY AWAY from primus. There is a very good reason why they are cheaper i think.

helentroy_2

hubballi wrote: »

Surely someone else is using them as Martin made it a feature in his newsletter.

There seem to be quite a few satisfied Primus customers - where little if anything seems to have gone wrong - but there are also many who wouldn't want to touch them now with a barge-pole because the test is when things do go wrong and how the company then deals with you and the problem. No matter how polite the individual call centre staff might be, Primus' 'customer service' is non-existent and there is no internal communication so you can go round in circles waiting for the answers or response you need to sort something out.

All companies have happy and not happy customers but I would not recommend Primus- they are cheap(er) for a reason.

skintdairymaid wrote: »

Hi All
I moved my line rental to them last November and their communication is dreadful. When we moved house we were without a land line for three weeks and were paying for calls being made on our old number! Stupidly i then enquired with them about broadband. The modem arrived on Tuesday but they told me it would be wireless and it's not. I've just got off the phone from them again and they say it will be twenty + pounds for a wireless modem and if i cancel the broadband they are goin to charge me for the rest of my 18 month contract. Not sure what i do now but my advice would def be to STAY AWAY from primus. There is a very good reason why they are cheaper i think.

To skintdairymaid. You can consider just biting the bullet, stay with them for the term of your contract and get yourself another modem. Or - as soon as possible- get consumer advice- try: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
they might be able to help/point you in right direction. You can also contact Otelo for advice on how to complain to the company: https://www.otelo.org.uk

Read through Primus' small print T&C's re contracts, 'cooling off' period, and terms of cancellation etc. etc. and the complaints procedure.
Email them and tell them you did not get what you believed you should get and you wish to make a formal complaint to get the ball rolling (don't do it only over the phone- it will not be logged but suggest could call to confirm the email). They may or may not respond and you need an acknowledgement from them that you did contact them to raise the issue.
Meanwhile- hopefully you now know what your consumer rights are and you follow Primus' complaints procedure. Compose your letter to Primus' 'Legal Department' accordingly (inc. dates/refs of all communications re the issue) and send the letter recorded delivery with the request for them to respond within 10 working days.

But it sounds like you need to know your rights to weigh up the literal cost (inc. time) - and you might decide it is really not worth it in the end.
Good luck anyway.

hubballi

So stick with BT and continue using 18185 then.

pumppumper

I have had problems with Primus.
Tried to cancel by phone in May 2009, I was told I could only do this by letter. Sent them a letter immediately. They continued to take monthly payments (by this time I was paying for 2 telephone providers)!!!!
Primus sent me a letter in September, yes, 4 months later! to confirm cancellation at the end of that month!
Last payment to them was in November 2009, because I told my bank not to pay them anymore!
Primus then sent me a letter informing me that I owed them £2.11 and I was to pay immediately.
Spitting teeth, I rang them. They claimed I was always in arrears with payments (not my fault, but it's the way they operate), even if this is so, how come it took them from May to November to cancel a service I clearly did not want or need! I have asked for a refund but they say I have had a good service!!!! :mad:

helentroy_2

Hi pumppumper
Don't know if you read my previous post in this thread (2 before yours) but you can try making a 'formal' complaint. If you call Otelo first they can advise what you need to do and if you have a case to make.

If you do decide to do that- my advice is don't spend too much time on it, just put the facts in and once done, put it aside and just get on with things.
It will take ages but as you've paid out already, it might be worth having a go.

pacific125

Do not use Primus as they will affectively block you making outgoing calls should you ever choose to cancel subscription.

Detail:

I notified Primus by email and by telephone nearly a month ago that I was cancelling the service I had with them. I thought they would send me a final bill and that the service would automatically revert to my previous supplier (BT) who I also pay line rental to. A few days after cancelling my service I suddenly found out I could not dial out without prefixing the number with 1280 which routes numbers through BT. I complained to Primus that they had blocked outbound calls but never received any communication from them regarding this matter.

Last week I finally received the cancellation of carrier preselection letter from them so I now know the date THEY wish to stop the service. However I would just like to warn other people who maybe considering using Primus that they are hopeless when it comes to the communications part of their business.

Heinz

pacific125 wrote: »

Do not use Primus as they will affectively block you making outgoing calls should you ever choose to cancel subscription.

You lost me there. Are you saying they should continue to allow ex-customers to make calls?

pacific125

When do you become an ex customer before or after you pay the final bill?